Slumgullion

NOTE: See yesterday’s Weekend Reminders post for more information on events happening this weekend.

The Square Roots festival, billed as “A Real Nice Music And Craft Beer Street Fest,” kicked off off today at 5:00 pm on Lincoln Avenue between Wilson and Montrose on Chicago’s north side. Sponsored by the Lincoln Square - Ravenswood Chamber Of Commerce and The Old Town School Of Folk Music, the festival has an enormous amount of entertainment scheduled over the weekend. That includes indie rockers The New Pornographers tonight at 9:00 pm. Some of the other acts performing are Lydia Loveless, Jon Spencer, and X on Saturday; and Waco Brothers, The Nude Party, and The Big Star Quintet (featuring original Big Star member Jody Stephens, Jon Auer from The Posies; Chris Stamey from The dB’s; and Pat Sansone and John Stirratt from Wilco) on Sunday. See the official Square Roots website for a full list of all the festivities .

Best wishes to Rod Argent for a full recovery from the recent stroke he suffered in London. The Zombies’ founding member/songwriter/keyboards player was treated at a hospital and released the following day. Argent has announced his retirement from touring, but the official Zombies website and social media sites state, “Rod still firmly intends to continue his other creative joy of writing and recording with The Zombies, and has already been back at his piano for some much-needed ‘Bach therapy’”.

 

Pravda Records, Chicago’s longest running independent label, previously announced it will hold a PravdaFest 40th Anniversary event featuring an impressive lineup of its acts on Saturday, August 31 at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn. Now there’s news of a free PravdaFest Pop Up Party coming to The Hideout Front Porch on July 23 from 7:30 to 11:00 pm. There will be Pravda Artists DJ set, hot dogs, prizes and the PravdaFest Poster Release. The Hideout Front Porch is located at 1354 W. Wabansia on Chicago’s north side.

The Pretenders will kick off their US Tour 2024 with a sold out concert tomorrow (July 13) at the Count Basie Theatre in Reds Bank, NJ. They’ve also already sold out upcoming shows in Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC,  Akron, Chicago (at the Chicago Theatre), Tulsa, Kansas City, Austin, San Francisco, and Sacramento. Tickets are still available for The Pretenders’ shows in Milwaukee, Irving (TX), and Phoenix.

 

WXRT will present a Mavis Staples Birthday Tribute featuring recordings of her and her family’s music, along with a conversation with on-air personality Terri Hemmert this Sunday at 10:00 am. It will air directly after Hemmert’s Breakfast With The Beatles program. The conversation, which was recorded earlier this week, will be rebroadcast at 10:00 that evening.

Supersonic, the second release from the Chicago-based band Sonic45 became available today on Bandcamp. Sonic45 has a Supersonic Record Release Party tomorrow (Saturday) at SPACE in Evanston.

Squeeze recently kicked off a five-month tour that involves traveling back and forth between the UK and USA. After a gig on the Isle Of Man on August 6, the band will fly off a week later for a performance in Eugene OR. Other North American stops include Oakland, Costa Mesa, Phoenix, Austin, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, New York, and Orlando. Squeeze will return to the UK in early October and continue touring through November. The Squeeze concert on September 5 at the Chicago Theatre will feature The English Beat the special guest for that night.

Chicago-based musician Matt Tiegler will likely showcase songs from his recent Hands Free Down Hill album when he’s part of a triple bill coming up at Montrose Saloon on July 16. Penthouse Sweets singer-guitarist Andy Hansen will also perform, along with vocalist Donna Adler. The music starts at 7:00 pm.

The David Bowie World Fan Convention 2024 starts on July 26 (the day after the world celebrates my birthday) and run through July 28 at various venues around Liverpool. This year’s special guests are Carlos Alomar; Woody Woodmansey; Ava Cherry; George Murray; Nacho; Denis O’Regan; Dana Gillespie; Mark Wardel; Marc Riley; Spizzenergi; David Buckley; Leah kardos; Hannah “Lulu” Breschard; and Chris Carter. Events will includes The Bowie Ball, live bands; signing sessions, and a marketplace.

Local comedy group Famous In The Future will present its annual three-day celebration of counter-culture entertainment, YippieFest, on the weekend of August 23 – 25 at Chopin Theatre. This will be the sixth in-person staging of the event, which features FIF along with a variety of acts presenting short plays, improv, monologues, sketch comedy, stand-up, music, performance art, and dance. YippieFest is modeled after the late Mary-Arrchie Theatre’s long-running Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival. The lineup will be revealed at some point on the official YippieFest website. Chopin Theatre is located at 1543 W. Division on the city’s north side. Full disclosure: I was a member of Famous In The Future for several years.

Have You Got It Yet? - The Story Of Syd Barrett And Pink Floyd will be available in DVD and Rlu-ray formats from Mercury Studios on July 19. The documentary was directed by filmmaker Roddy Bogawa and album cover artist Storm Thorgerson, and features interviews with Barrett’s bandmates David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Roger Waters, along with musicians Pete Townshend and Graham Coxon.

SPACE in Evanston will offer a series of Singer-Songwriter events throughout this month that includes Gerald Dowd and Richard Knight, Jr. on July 15; and Phil Angotti and Tommi Zender performing the music of Simon and Garfunkel on July 28.

Blondie founding member Chris Stein’s memoir titled Under A Rock is now available from various sites. The book, which features a forward by Debbie Harry, is described by MacMillan Publishers as a “a plunge into the moments that made a giant 1980’s artistic sensation.”

Chicago: Home Of House, an exhibit honoring the city’s pivotal role in widespread success of house music over the past 40 years, runs through the end of October. 

Rebel Girl: My Life As A Feminist Punk, a memoir from riot-grrrl band Bikini Kill vocalist Kathleen Hanna is now available from HarperCollins Publishers on various websites and book stores.

The Millennium Park 20th Anniversary Celebration takes place July 18 – 21, with unique entertainment being staged each night. ¡Súbelo! will honor Latin culture via performances by Chuwi, Codigo FN, and Fruko y Sus Tesos on July 18; the Grant Park Orchestra will perform Star Wars and other selections composed by John Williams on July 19; actor-musician Common will perform with the Grant Park Orchestra on July 20; and The S&S Chicago Experience (Steve “Silk” Hurley and Shannon “Skip” Syas will delve into the history of House Music on July 21.

The Our House - The Music Of CSNY tour will include a stop at the Des Plaines Theatre in Illinois on August 3. The tribute act features musicians who are related to or have worked with David Crosby, Neil Young, and Graham Nash.

This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival takes place July 19 – 21 in Union Park, and will offer Black Pumas, Jai Paul, Carly Rae Jepsen, Alanis Morissette, and Brittany Howard, along with several other acts.